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Brad Mehldau and Renee Fleming - Love Sublime (2006)
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| If you think jazz is becoming an endangered art form chained to its past, that's nothing compared to the present condition of classical art song, which is almost extinct in concert halls, sustained mostly by star singers taking a break from opera. Nevertheless, pianist/composer Brad Mehldau treads where very, very few jazzmen have bothered to go before, composing a pair of classical song cycles for the esteemed, front-rank soprano Renée Fleming. No kidding. And he does it strictly in European classical terms; with no jazz, no hints of improvisation except in the title song, everything written out just as Schubert, Schumann, Mahler, Mehldau's idol Brahms, and other classical masters did before him. Rainer Maria Rilke's philosophical poems form the texts for Mehldau's "Songs from The Book of Hours: Love Poems to God," a grand seven-song cycle lasting over a half-hour. It speaks well for Mehldau's taste that these are far better texts than you often encounter in lieder, rooted in solitude, questioning man's relationship to God. His responses to the texts are thoughtful and varied in texture, ranging from the daringly simple, spare, stabbing progression of chords as an accompaniment to "Your First Word Was Light" to quasi-symphonic passages in others. The shorter, three-song "Songs from The Blue Estuaries," with texts by Louise Bogan, has a more ambiguous, turbulent texture, just teetering on this side of tonality. Oddly enough, the only piece that does not use a completely written-out score, "Love Sublime" (a reworking of Mehldau's instrumental "Paris"), is the song that pays closest homage to Mehldau's classical heroes, Wagner's modulations in particular, and Fleming is given the most latitude in phrasing here as well. Fleming's voice seems to have thickened as of this session, and her overall interpretive outlook remains cool, dignified and detached, while pouring forth seamless streams of polished, steady sound. "I Love You, Gentlest of Ways" (from "First Word") contains long passages of sustained, exposed vocal lines with no place to hide, which doesn't bother Fleming in the least. Throughout Love Sublime, Mehldau aims high -- he takes his task very seriously, and he has the tools for it -- although you don' quite hear a striking individual signature yet. |
Brad Mehldau, piano
Renée Fleming, vocals
Songs from The Book of Hours: Love Poems to God
Brad Mehldau / Words by Rainer Maria Rilke
1. Your first word was light
2. The hour is striking so close above me
3. I love the dark hours of my being
4. I love you, gentlest of Ways
5. No one lives his life
6. His caring is a nightmare to us
7. Extinguish my eyes, I'll go on seeing you
Songs from The Blue Estuaries
Brad Mehldau / Words by Louise Bogan
8. Tears in Sleep
9. Memory
10. A Tale
11. Love Sublime
Brad Mehldau / Words by Fleurine
*EAC (secure mode / offset correction)
*FLAC 1.1.2
*402 MB
*high quality covers
*another chapter of my exceptional life
| CODE |
EAC extraction logfile from 27. October 2006, 19:43 for CD
Brad Mehldau and Renee Fleming / Love Sublime
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Read mode : Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, disable cache
Read offset correction : 48
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Used output format : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Plugins\flac.exe (User Defined Encoder)
320 kBit/s
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "artist=%a" -T "title=%t" -T "album=%g" -T "date=%y" -T "tracknumber=%n" -T "genre=%m" -T "comment=EAC 095pb5 / Flac 1.1.2 -8" %s
Other options :
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Track 1
Filename D:\Audio\lossless\Brad Mehldau and Renee Fleming - Love Sublime (2006) [FLAC]\01 - Your first word was light.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00
Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 2
Filename D:\Audio\lossless\Brad Mehldau and Renee Fleming - Love Sublime (2006) [FLAC]\02 - The hour is striking so close above me.wav
Peak level 91.0 %
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Track 3
Filename D:\Audio\lossless\Brad Mehldau and Renee Fleming - Love Sublime (2006) [FLAC]\03 - I love the dark hours of my being.wav
Peak level 98.7 %
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Test CRC 6DB8E3AC
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Track 4
Filename D:\Audio\lossless\Brad Mehldau and Renee Fleming - Love Sublime (2006) [FLAC]\04 - I love you, gentlest of Ways.wav
Peak level 100.0 %
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Track 5
Filename D:\Audio\lossless\Brad Mehldau and Renee Fleming - Love Sublime (2006) [FLAC]\05 - No one lives his life.wav
Peak level 91.6 %
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Track 6
Filename D:\Audio\lossless\Brad Mehldau and Renee Fleming - Love Sublime (2006) [FLAC]\06 - His caring is a nightmare to us.wav
Peak level 100.0 %
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Track 7
Filename D:\Audio\lossless\Brad Mehldau and Renee Fleming - Love Sublime (2006) [FLAC]\07 - Extinguish my eyes, I'll go on seeing you.wav
Peak level 100.0 %
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Track 8
Filename D:\Audio\lossless\Brad Mehldau and Renee Fleming - Love Sublime (2006) [FLAC]\08 - Tears in sleep.wav
Peak level 97.2 %
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Track 9
Filename D:\Audio\lossless\Brad Mehldau and Renee Fleming - Love Sublime (2006) [FLAC]\09 - Memory.wav
Peak level 100.0 %
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Track 10
Filename D:\Audio\lossless\Brad Mehldau and Renee Fleming - Love Sublime (2006) [FLAC]\10 - A Tale.wav
Peak level 92.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 11
Filename D:\Audio\lossless\Brad Mehldau and Renee Fleming - Love Sublime (2006) [FLAC]\11 - Love Sublime.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:07.22
Peak level 83.9 %
Track quality 100.0 %
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End of status report |